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H. 1-1. MITCHELL. APPARATUS FOR PLUSHING SEWERS.

No. 389,712. Patented Sept. 18, 1888.

INVENTOR: iffggjp f Holy-mu? MM 9 z BY; Q WATT'YS.

WITNESSES:

, UNITED STATES PATENT Grimes.

HORACE H. MITCHELL, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOCARROLL P. BASSETT, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR FLUSHING SEWERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,712, datedSeptember 18, 1888'.

Applieatian filed April Q5, 1888, Serial No. 271,812. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may-concern.-

Be itknown that I, HORACE H. MITCHELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvementsin Devices for FlushingSewers, Drains, 85s.; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and'exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersof, reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification. l

The object of this invention is to more effcctively cleanse sewers,drains, 8m, from sediment, which tends to clog the same, and to do so byautomatically and periodically flushing the sewer or drain to reduce thecost of construction; to avoid the use of a series of pipes or siphonsfor conducting the water to the top of the main siphon; to cause thevalve which allows the compressed air to escape when the water is at acertain limit to remain always above and away from the water, so that itcannot be clogged or obstructed by floating matter,"which would tend tointerfere with a proper working thereof; to secure a greaterdurability,and otherwise to secure a more simple and effective flushingapparatus; and it consists in the arrangements and combinations of partsthereof, substantially as will be hereinafter set.forth, and finallyembodied in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in

which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each ofthe several figures,

Figure l is a central longitudinal section of the improved device. Fig.2 is a plan of an automatic valve thereof adapted to allow the escape ofair when the water rises to a certain I height within the water-chamber.

0 the branch passage a terminates in a chamber, d, which is separatedfrom said chamber a by a suitable plate or'flooring, 0, adapted toprevent the premature leakage of water from the upper chamber, 0, intothe branch drain. The said lower chamber, d, is adapted to retain acertain amount of water at the bottom 5 thereof in any suitable mannerpreferably by forming a raised partition, f, partially separatingsaid chamber from the drain.

Passing through the plate 6 is a stand-pipe, g, which extends throughtheflooring e and down into the water held at the bottom of the chamberd. The said pipe extends upward quiteadistanceintosaid chamber c,andaround the same is arranged a larger stand-pipe, h, which at its upperend lies a little above the upper extremity of the inner of the smallerstand-pipes, a passage, '5, being formed between the pipes, which admitsof the water flowing upward therethrough and into the upper end of thesmaller pipe. 70 e The cover j, by means of which the larger stand-pipeis closed at its upper end, is removably secured upon said pipe h toallow ac cess to the interior of the stand-pipe, and is suitably packed,as at 76, forming atightjoint impervious to air.

The outer standpipe is suitably held away from the flooring e, or isopen at its lower end, as at Z, to allow the entrance of water from theupper chamber, 0, to the stand pipe g. The said outer stand-pipe ispreferably held away from the flooring c'by legs m, although the saidpipe may have simple perforations at its lower end of sufficient size toallow a copious flow of water therethrough. 9-

By the construction of the pipes thus described a siphon is formed,which under some conditions, hereinafter specified,will draw the waterfrom the water-chamber 0 into the drain a at a very rapid rate and serveto flush the said drain andsewer connected therewith.

At the upper part of the stand-pipeh is an ranged a valve adapted toopen automatically when the water isrising or becoming of a sufiicientquantity in the chamber 0 to flow through the sewer or drain in asufficient volume and with suflicient force to remove the sedimenttherefrom. The said valve is constructed as indicated in the drawings,in which the cover j is shown to be perforated, as at n, to form anair-passage, the said passage being closed by a ball, which may be ofrubber and adapted to form an impervious joint with the seattherefor,formed at the lower side of the cover around said perforation,the seat being slightly funnel-shaped to provide a suitablebearingsurface for said ball. The said ball is held on the under side ofthe cover by means of a lever, and a connection, 0', which extendsthrough the said perforation in the cover to said lever. Said lever isfulcrumed on a post carried by the cover j, as at q, and extendslaterally from the stand-pipe, as shown in Fig. 1, where it is weighteddown with a hollow float, a, the said float being so fixed or secured tothe lever as that the water causes the same to rise before the saidwater rises to the level of the top of the stand-pipe or coverj. Thusfloating matter is never allowed to come in contact with the valve atthe cover, which would interfere with a proper engagement of the ballwith its seat. The pipes h and g are straight pipes, and I am thusenabled to use common drain pipe, such as are commonly found in themarket. The upper end of the outer stand-pipe is provided with a hub orbell, 7), into which the cover is seated, the shoulder 2; serving tohold the cover up and the flange v to prevent lateral displacement andto receive the packing. By means of the hell or hub of the stand-pipeand the packing the cover is held thereon with suflicient firmness toovercome the movement that would be caused by the continued action ofthe lever. The said weights .Q are preferably hollow and adapted to forma float, so that when the water rises into engagement therewith it willlower the ball from engagement with the cover and open the air-passagea.

It will of course be understood that the valve may be of any otherconstruction than that speeifiedas, for example, in lieu of the ball anyother form of valve may be employed.

The water which is to serve in flushing the sewer may be obtained from awater-pipe, I. The said water is kept or may be kept runningcontinuously, so that as the water is emptied from the chamber it mayagain immediately accumulate therein.

In operating the device in accordance with my invention, the parts beingarranged substantially as described, and the valve being closed, thewater entering through the pipe 15 rises in the chamber 0 until itarrives at a point and engages the float s. As it rises it will beevident that the air confined in the stand-pipes will be brought under acertain amount of pressure, and thus when the water rises to the dottedline indicated at m, at a point where it engages the float 8, above theupper end of the inner stand-pipe, it will then lie a little below thelevel of the inner standpipe, because of such air-pressure, asindicated. Vhen the waterengages the float and raises the same and opensthe valve, the airpressure within the stand-pipes is immediately removedand the water (instead of trickling from the pipe into the sewer a in aquantity equal to the amount entering through thepipe) rushes up to itsnormal level above the inner staudpipe and immediately passes outtherethrough in a copious quantity, siphoning the water off at a veryrapid rate. The body of water lying in the chamber 0 serves to flush thesewer a and remove therefrom the sediment, which would otherwise tend toclog or fill up the same.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is 1. In aflushing apparatus, the combination, with inner and outer stand-pipes,of a cover, j, carrying a fulcrum and perforated, a lever arranged onsaid fulcrum, a float, a ball for stoppering the perforation, and aconnection for holding said ball to said lever, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

2. In a flushing apparatus, the combination, with chambers c d, thelatter partially separated from the drain by apartition, f, ofa plate orflooring, c, an inner straight pipe, 9, extending through saidflooring,an outer straight pipe raised from said flooring, a separableeover,j, having a valve opening or perforation therein, a lever, and afloat lying away from said stand-pipe below the level of the extremitythereof, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a flushing apparatus, in combination with the inner and outerstand-pipes, a cover providing a valve-seat, a valve, a lever, and afloat, the said float lying below the level of said valved cover to comein contact with the water before the latter covers said cover,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In combination with the inner and outer pipes, g and 71, a separablecover provided with a stud, a lever fulcrumed on said stud, a float atone end of said lever, and a valve engaging the under side of the cover,and a connection extending from said valve to said lever, substantiallyas and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination,withaninnerstaml-pipe of a flushing apparatus, of anouter stand-pipe provided with a bell at the top, a valved cover seatedin said bell, and a float for opening said valve automatically,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this23d day of April, 1888.

HORACE H. MITCHELL.

\Vitnesses:

O. DRAKE, E. L. SHERMAN.

IIS

